Natis (Natis)
Natis is a continent of the World. It is bordered by the Ocean to the east and the west, the Sunlit Sea to the south and the Stormsea to the north. Near to it lies the Northern Continent and the two southern landmasses of Ikya and Fortos.Elwan S. "An Atlas of the Known World" Natis can be divided into five big geographical and cultural areas.Elwan, S. "An Atlas of the Known World" In the middle of the continent lies the Sheer, a steppe thousands of miles wide in every direction. It is bordered by a chain of mountains including the White Mountains, the Fire Mountains, the Rockfell Mountains and the Walls of Sun. By the seas lie the most developed and rich areas, like the West, the Firelands, the Monastic Kingdoms and the Eastern Kingdoms. Various people populate the continent. Most populous of them are the Westmen and the Eastlings. While most of the cultures of Natis live in settlements of various sizes, nomadic peoples (Jadans and Greenriders, for example) are constantly changing place. Every region has its own dominating religion; it is the Faith of the Face in the West, two rivalling religions in the Firelands and the Monastic Kingdoms, the Faith of Stars in the Far East and Shamanism in the Sheer. Leventin, G. "Lands of Men" Divided from each other by mountains, deserts or steppes, different cultures of Natis developed while being isolated from each other. Only neighbouring regions had the chance to make direct contact. The only connection between more distant regions is trade, which is done via long routes like the Great Road between the West and East. Leventin, G. "Lands of Men" History See: History (Natis) The Dawn (before 10,000 BM) Little is known about the start of times and the birth of the world and the land of Natis within. The Holy Writings tell that God sacrificed his body to create a world of light in the darkness of the Void. According to the Faith, the World is his body, the air is his breath and the Face (a constellation of the Northern Sky forming a man's face) is his own, looking over the World and his Children. The Crown is his own Crown that he has given to his children to protect them in the darkness of the night. "The Holy Book" However, some dare to argue this theory, or interpret the writings of the Holy Book metaphorically. Most notable of them is Seywr the Red who states that everything that we know is a result of natural proccesses, that occured over the course of thousands if not millions of years. Seywr, R. "The World as We Know Her" He has few followers, though. However, what we know for sure is that the early Natis was populated by three species. Most popoulus of them were the Dwarves, who lived in the Sheer and developed primitive agriculture. P. Rordan "Before Men" In the farthest east lived the High Men , ancestors of today's humanity. However, most researched of all the species of the time are the Nymphs. The Nymphs lived in the vast forests that covered the region that today we call the West. Little is known about them. We know that they built up an empire that was held together by magic, as they used a form of magic provided by the nature.P. Rordan "Before Men" They were beautiful, and they lived in peace and harmony for thousands of years. However, an unknown catastrophe occured around 10,000 BM (Before Magarate), known as the Great Darkness. It was a war that the nymphs fought - altough we do not know who they were fighting with. Millions died, the Dwarven, High Men and Nymphic cultures were completely destroyed. When light came again, the nymphs had vanished from Natis. Orcs and Dragons took their place. P. Rordan "Before Men" It was the time when the Crown appeared on the Northern skies.P. Rordan "Before Men" Bronze Empires (10,000-5,000 BM) With the disappearing of the nymphs, Natis entered a very different age. New civilizations rose on the ruins of the previous ones. The old tribes of men started to split up. The direct descendants of the High Men stayed in the Far East , founding the mighty empire of Taldiquennon. The second tribe headed for the Sheer, where they became nomadic people. The third arrived to the lands that we know today as the Monastic Kingdoms and created an empire there.Prof. Haldon "Empires of the East Pt. I" The Dwarves were scattered during the Long Night. Eventually, they set up multiple empires. One in the valley of the Great River in the Sheer, and half a dozen scattered across the great steppe.Prof. Haldon "Empires of the East Pt. II" These settlements were gigantic stone towers with vast dungeons under them - these form the base to the Tower Cities of the present.Leventin, G. "Lands of Men" The West and the Firelands both were populated by orcs who were numerous that time. In the mountains lived the fiery dragons who were bigger and more dangerous than ever before or after furing the history. All of the civilisations were using bronze to build weapons and armor, hence the name of the era. Prof. Baldwin "Age of Bronze and Blood Vol. I" No magic was present in Natis during the existence of the Bronze Empires, but the continent has seen no peace. Prof. Baldwin "Age of Bronze and Blood Vol. I" The dwarven realms waged constant wars with each other. The Monastic Empire and Taldiquennon did the same in the region that became the Wastes of Mazoth. Prof. Baldwin "Age of Bronze and Blood Vol. II" Eventually, these mighty countries fell one after the other by 5000 BM. Prof. Baldwin "Age of Bronze and Blood Vol. III" Iron Empires (5000 BM - 1000 BM) The era started with turmoil that lasted for five centuries. Petty kings rose and fell in the East, the Monastic Lands and the Sheer. The dwarves were the first who saw the end of that dark age. They still used bronze, but they successfully reunited the valley of the Great River, setting up the Great Dwarven Empire. They were followed by the eastern men. They discovered iron and later steel, and using the new materials they built stronger weapons than anyone else before. Between 4500 BM and 3000 BM they conquered both the Monastic Kingdoms and the Far East. Their god-emperors ruled over the biggest empire the world had ever seen. Prof. Haldon "Empires of the East Pt. III" Around 3000 BM they defeated the Fifth Dwarven Empire (in the meantime, four rose and fell), and the Dwarves became their vassals.Prof. Haldon "Empires of the East Pt. III" Their empire was flourishing for 1000 years. During this time the greatest pieces of art were born, the most important inventions were made and the most accurate maps were drawn. The people called themselves Nateans, and their land the Natean Empire or Natis (a word that's meaning is unknown, but became the whole continent's name). Prof. Lewyn "The World Empire" It is said Natean sailors are said to have circumnavigated the world, proving that it is round and found beautiful lands on the other side of the ocean. These are just legends though. What we know for sure, however, is that the Empire had access to some form of magic. Professors like to believe that they owned the Firecore.Prof. Lewyn "The World Empire" The Natean Empire reached the height of its power around 2500 BM. By then they started the colonisation of Ikya and Fortos. However, an unknown catastrophe happened (maybe of magical origin) and the mighty empire started to decline. She was so huge that her dying lasted for centuries, and millions died in the process, but by 2000 BM, the Natean Empire disappeared from the World.Prof. Lewyn "The World Empire" The Farthest East fell in constant warfare between petty kings. The Dwarves, who were dependent of the empire went with them to the grave. Prof. Haldon "Empires of the East Pt. IV" Dragon attacks, civil wars followed each other, and the last ones of them escaped to their deep mines in the mountains. They slowly went extinct. Millions of humans left the devastated East, and marched trough the Sheer. Some of them settled in the Tower Cities left by Bronze-Age Dwarves, some became nomads, and the toughest of them reached the West. Halgar R. "Born of the West" The only winners of the fall of Natis were the Monastic Lands. A new Monastic Empire rose on the ruins of the old one.Prof. Haldon "Empires of the East Pt. V" Rise of the Magarate (1000 BM - 1668 AM) The men who reached the West first encountered the orcs living there. The nine tribes of humans fought the millions of orcs, and in the following 500 years they managed to kill them all. Genocide was committed after genocide, while they conquered newer and newer lands.Halgar R. "Born of the West" They founded nine kingdoms of the Nine Colours. These were roughly the same as the kingdoms of our age. These countries prospered for hundreds of years.Halgar R. "Born of the West" They waged many wars, but they traded a lot too, and they started to get closer and closer to each other. In 789 BM the Faith of the Face was founded and in 512 BM the Firecore was obtained by an order who started calling themselves "mages ".M. Parthalos "An Order of Fire - History of Western Magic" The mages quickly become the greatest enemy of the Faith who made several attempts to destroy them. While they didn't succeed, they were close to their goal many times. The last of these crusades was fought before 0 AM.M. Parthalos "An Order of Fire - History of Western Magic" Less than twenty mages remained, but they influenced the young Golden King, Aegnor, who became a mage himself, and using his powers conquered most of the West. He called himself Magar (gold emperor) and his empire the Magarate.Prof. Sivelle "Complete History of the Magarate" Northenwill, Casgarod and the Highvale made an alliance against them under the leadership of Casgarod, who slowly unified the three kingdoms. They stopped the invasion of Aegnor and his successors. The isle of Ganwarkell couldn't be conquered either for centuries, due to its unbeatable fleet.Prof. Sivelle "Complete History of the Magarate" After the death of Aegnor, three golden dynasties followed each other on the Golden Throne in the mighty city of Cas Torwin. The First Dynasty (1000-1301) succeeded in consolidating the power, and finished the conquest of the West by subjugating Ganwarkell and pulling the North into the Empire via marriage. The Second Dynasty (1301-1526) made the Magarate a superpower. They conquered the Firelands, defeated the Jadans and waged war against the Monastic Empire in alliance with the newly born Far Eastern kingdoms.Prof. Sivelle "Complete History of the Magarate"Prof. Haldon "Empires of the East Pt. V" However, during the Third Dynasty (1526-1668), the empire started to collapse under its own weight. Economic recession was followed by military defeats. The Magar's armies were driven out from the Firelands. Jadans started to attack the southern borders regularly. Eventually, in 1664 Warlord Irmith the Red rose up in rebellion and with his armies he defeated Cas Torwin in the Battle of Fire .Prof. Sivelle "Complete History of the Magarate" Dark Ages (after 1668 AM) The Mages were killed after the Battle of Fire.M. Parthalos "An Order of Fire - History of Western Magic" Irmith declared himself emperor, but he could not keep his empire together. Armies were dissolved and nine smaller kingdoms were born. They are constantly warring and plotting agains each other up until today. People and culture The regions of Natis: *'The West: '''the West is comprised of nine kingdoms. Men living here are called Westmen. The Faith of the Face is followed, and varieties of Westongue language is spoken. High Westongue serves as lingua franca.Leventin, G. "Lands of Men" *'The Firelands: the Firelands include the Warlands: an area devastated by former wars with the Magarate, the Fireshore, a coastline with several rich trader cities and the Inner Firelands, home to the nomadic Jadans. Most people follow the god of merchants and goddess of winds.Leventin, G. "Lands of Men" *'The Monastic Kingdoms: '''once a great empire, the lands bordered by the Rockfell Mountains are now home to a hundred of little states led by warrior-monks of the Tentrist faith.Leventin, G. "Lands of Men" *'The Farthest East: little is known about the legendary lands of the Farthest East, which were the centre of the once-great Natean Empire. Today, three kingdoms share the territory. The art and culture of the East is very rich and egsotic.Leventin, G. "Lands of Men" *'The Sheer:' a great steppe thousands of miles wide that covers the central part of Natis is the home to the Tower Cities and the nomadic Greenriders. The Great Road passes trough the region, connecting East and West.Leventin, G. "Lands of Men" References Category:Natis Category:Places (Natis)